Wing and A Prayer or Whim and A Prayer :




A 1943 hit song depicted a bomber pilot just barely managing to bring his shot-up plane back to base, “comin’ in on a wing and a prayer” (lyrics by Harold Adamson, music by Jimmy McHugh).


Some people who don’t get the allusion mangle this expression as “a whim and a prayer.” Whimsicality and fervent prayerfulness don’t go together.